The Falling
by WildMustangShadowfax
Summary: An unknown enemy of unbelievable strength has breached Tortall's borders. Alanna is losing the palace, Jon may or may not be dead, Gary and Raoul are walking into a trap, and George suddenly disappears. Could this be the end for Tortall and its heroes?


**~Prologue~**

The man was about twenty-seven years of age, but despite this his face was white and drawn. He looked like a man who had experienced much too much for his years. Indeed, he had. And as the sun rose to the east on a bloody field of corpses he saw something he never wanted to be faced with; defeat. Around him his loyal country was falling into shambles; his friends had made their stand, and they had failed. Many of those loyal to him were dead, while others still had been captured. It was only a matter of time before the enemy would make a killing of him, too, and then his country would be without leader and without order. All would fall to the hands of the enemy and nothing he could do now was going to save them. It was with this in mind that he had to make a choice. He could stand his ground now and risk losing everything for himself and his kingdom, or he could run for his life and hope that a chance came that would let him free the kingdom that was now so decimated. But which to chose?

* * *

She was the daughter of a noble--the strangest woman you'd ever see. Yet no one would ever see a weaker moment. It was with reluctance that she had let the king and his men leave the court without her, but he had assured her that the kingdom would need its champion at home—and true enough, it had. The enemy had advanced on the palace and she and the remaining foot soldiers were forced to fight them back. But the attempt had been futile. The foot soldiers were cut down where they stood. She had watched blood spill like never before, and it was all she could do to drag the survivors inside the walls and barricade them in. Now she listened to the enemy screaming in a foreign language, biting her nails, with no answer that would save them. All seemed lost, but the news was to grow even bleaker when she heard the king's forces had been destroyed only thirty miles from the city; there were no survivors.

* * *

The big man drew his sword and let out a roar of anger as he galloped his horse into the fight, slashing the enemy to pieces. Beside him was his long-time friend and the only man at court bigger than him. Together they led the second wave of the attack the king had planned. News had already reached them at the destruction of the king's first wave; they had to act fast if they were to save their majesty's life. But nothing could have prepared them for the scene that would grace them when they fought through the enemy's defenses. Their first priority was to find the king, not waste time fighting. Yet when they arrived the field was strewn with corpses. A live man could not be seen anywhere, blood covered everything like red syrup, sticky and hardening to the field. Faces could not be recognized amongst the mess—they could only hope their leader was not among them.

* * *

He had heard the news, he had to help, but it was not easy to summon together men of the lower level to fight for the king. None of them felt they owed anything other than their pitiful existence to the ruler of the realm. But so was not the case for this man—their true leader. It was with terror hidden in his heart that he assembled his own court and charged on the besieged palace. Like every other attempt this one was destined to fail. Nothing they could do was going to break in—the enemy was too strong.

* * *

It seemed as if this would be the end for the great country. Its king was gone—perhaps dead. Its champion was locked inside a palace with nothing to do. The strongest of the realms knights had arrived too late to save the king's forces; maybe even the king himself. As they desperately searched the field for any remaining survivors and any trace of the king, the Rogue gathered his troops to attack the palace, to make a stand of the commoners against this foreign army. But none of it was enough. It seemed as if all was lost. No one knew what to do, all they knew was this just might be the end of a great kingdom.

**Author's Note: **_So I haven't written fanfic in a long time, so please let me know how this is. It's just a start, I hope to continue but I'm really busy with school, so I may or may not have time. Comments and critique would be much appreciated. _


End file.
